Approaches to setting up software may include the provision of a series of textual input forms and each form may query a user for data required for executing the software. Although documentation may be provided to explain and provide instruction on the setup of benefits plan software, effective setup with the forms generally requires knowledge of the architecture of the system and is not intuitive to persons that are untrained in setting up the software.
Setting up software for managing a benefits plan of a business entity often requires employing a trained consultant due to the complexity involved in setting up the system. Typically, a benefits plan administrator provides the details of a benefits plan to a trained consultant and the consultant sets up the system in accordance with the benefits plan desired by the benefits plan administrator. The administrator may have already decided how many programs and plans to offer, what the options are, how much they will cost the employer and employee, who is eligible and any actions that the employee must take. The problem is that they need to translate these end results into setup steps that require them to understand both the architecture of the Benefits product and the precise setup steps required. This is normally achieved by separately documenting the program and plan details, which is then handed off to be interpreted by a consultant and implemented by going through the functional setup screens.
Such an approach may be costly due to the necessity of hiring a consultant to change and/or setup benefits plan software as well as inefficient because a benefits plan administrator has the knowledge for the benefits plan and must explain and document the desired plan for a consultant before the system can be set up. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an efficient and intuitive technique for setting up benefits plan software.